Update: No, seriously, is Glenn Beck for real with this?

Over the past few months, quite a few observers of right-wing nutjobs have been having some fun with Fox News host Glenn Beck, whose ranting and raving has taken on an increasingly deranged tone. Just this past week, for example, he simulated dousing someone with gasoline to make a point about how Barack Obama may as well just light the "common man" on fire rather than subject us all to his policy. People on the left had a good laugh.

Huh. Doe this mean his "comedy routine" is basically just the rants from his show, like some uber-right-wing Dennis Miller? When he does things like, say, dousing someone with pretend gasoline, is he going for a laugh? Or is he a subversive satirist? Is his show, then, a very convincing parody of right-wing crazies, like Stephen Colbert's, but more straight-faced? We'll go out on a limb and say the latter is not too likely. Instead, we're guessing he thinks that the reactions he gets from lefties are what's really "funny," thus making him the cable news equivalent of an internet troll. Or maybe not. We're honestly kind of curious, here.